Bucharest vs Lisbon - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Bucharest	Lisbon
🚶 Cost of living one person	$988	$1705
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2566	$3820
🏠 One person rent	$474	$1106
🏘️ Family rent	$877	$1849
🍽️ Food expenses	$339	$384
🚐 Transport expenses	$67.6	$89.1
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1247	$1278
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	8 km
🎓 Higher education	77	93
😀 Quality of life	79	82
🏙️ Population	1.72M	546K

The cost of living in Bucharest is 42% less expensive than in Lisbon. Cities ranked 5565th and 2671st ($988 vs $1705) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 3rd in Romania and Portugal, respectively. Check Romania vs Portugal comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.3 months in Bucharest compared to 0.7 months in Lisbon. Bucharest ranked 1st best city to live in Romania vs Lisbon ranked 3rd in Portugal, while ranked 645th and 475th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Bucharest vs Lisbon infographic

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Prices in Bucharest vs Lisbon

Prices for goods and services in Bucharest and Lisbon are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.

	Bucharest	Lisbon
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$10.5	$12.1
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$44.7	$50.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$7.25	$9.01
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.9	$2.75
☕ Cappuccino	$3.01	$2.95
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.09	$1.9
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$520	$1223
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$337	$933
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$999	$2337
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$658	$1529
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$90.8	$81.1
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$141	$125
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$9.28	$33.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	7.1%	4.31%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3094	$6840
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1793	$3925
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.63	$2.1
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$17.3	$41.6
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$5.57	$11.4
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.52	$1.84
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.6	$1.01
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.98	$1.31
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.35	$1.33
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.05	$3.19
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.55	$11.7
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.56	$7.05
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.9	$13.6
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.15	$2.13
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.62	$1.49
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.6	$1.78
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.05	$2.21
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.94	$1.57
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.89	$1.87
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.57	$0.51
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.01	$2.34
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.28	$5.5
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.12	$1.26
🚬 Cigarette pack	$5.84	$6
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.38	$8.18
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.93	$4.17
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.61	$1.82
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.03	$2.38
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$42.7	$39.4
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.92	$8.06
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$51.8	$73.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$10.4	$12.7
👖 Brand Jeans	$72.9	$92.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$84	$83.7
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$569	$562
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$11573	$15150

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Bucharest

Distance	City	Cost of living
13 km or 8.3 mi	Voluntari	$867
56 km or 35 mi	Giurgiu	$847
60 km or 37 mi	Ploiesti	$796
62 km or 39 mi	Ruse	$633
77 km or 48 mi	Targoviste	$704
77 km or 48 mi	Alexandria	$629
102 km or 63 mi	Buzau	$729
102 km or 63 mi	Calarasi	$696
103 km or 64 mi	Slobozia	$722
108 km or 67 mi	Pitesti	$743
137 km or 85 mi	Slatina	$623
143 km or 89 mi	Shumen	$622
144 km or 90 mi	Brasov	$938
151 km or 94 mi	Veliko Tarnovo	$731
156 km or 97 mi	Ramnicu Valcea	$770
161 km or 100 mi	Pleven	$594
164 km or 102 mi	Sfantu Gheorghe	$680
168 km or 104 mi	Dobrich	$702
168 km or 105 mi	Focsani	$752
177 km or 110 mi	Braila	$741
180 km or 112 mi	Craiova	$848
181 km or 112 mi	Gabrovo	$598
192 km or 119 mi	Galati	$786
192 km or 119 mi	Sliven	$631
198 km or 123 mi	Varna	$892
203 km or 126 mi	Mamaia	$929
205 km or 127 mi	Constanta	$1002
216 km or 134 mi	Yambol	$546
217 km or 135 mi	Sibiu	$698
223 km or 138 mi	Stara Zagora	$646
232 km or 144 mi	Tulcea	$837
233 km or 145 mi	Targu Jiu	$718
236 km or 146 mi	Cahul	$812
237 km or 147 mi	Barlad	$725
238 km or 148 mi	Medias	$574
239 km or 148 mi	Burgas	$721
243 km or 151 mi	Vratsa	$687
251 km or 156 mi	Bacau	$650
260 km or 161 mi	Vidin	$605
267 km or 166 mi	Targu Mures	$758

Cities near Lisbon

Distance	City	Cost of living
4.1 km or 2.6 mi	Almada	$1606
6.9 km or 4.3 mi	Amadora	$1388
8.8 km or 5.5 mi	Queluz	$1325
9.4 km or 5.8 mi	Odivelas	$1409
10 km or 6.3 mi	Barreiro	$1305
11 km or 6.7 mi	Amora	$1178
12 km or 7.3 mi	Seixal	$1238
12 km or 7.4 mi	Oeiras	$1525
13 km or 8 mi	Agualva-Cacem	$1368
13 km or 8.1 mi	Loures	$1384
17 km or 10 mi	Montijo	$1360
18 km or 11 mi	Moita	$1316
18 km or 11 mi	Algueirao-Mem Martins	$1371
21 km or 13 mi	Sintra	$1413
22 km or 14 mi	Cascais	$1501
28 km or 17 mi	Mafra	$1339
29 km or 18 mi	Palmela	$1305
30 km or 19 mi	Vila Franca de Xira	$1137
31 km or 19 mi	Sesimbra	$1213
32 km or 20 mi	Setubal	$1336
39 km or 24 mi	Alenquer	$1248
42 km or 26 mi	Torres Vedras	$1369
42 km or 26 mi	Benavente	$1255
47 km or 29 mi	Azambuja	$1242
47 km or 29 mi	Salvaterra de Magos	$1249
58 km or 36 mi	Cartaxo	$1230
61 km or 38 mi	Lourinha	$1349
71 km or 44 mi	Santarem	$1160
72 km or 45 mi	Almeirim	$1176
73 km or 45 mi	Peniche	$1502
77 km or 48 mi	Caldas da Rainha	$1168
90 km or 56 mi	Santiago do Cacem	$1282
94 km or 58 mi	Alcobaca	$1206
101 km or 63 mi	Torres Novas	$1102
103 km or 64 mi	Porto de Mos	$1168
111 km or 69 mi	Evora	$1135
115 km or 72 mi	Ourem	$1100
117 km or 72 mi	Marinha Grande	$1170
118 km or 73 mi	Tomar	$908
118 km or 73 mi	Abrantes	$1112